Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 32 | Page 23

LATEST INTELLIGENCE purchasing, inventory, shipping, invoicing and so on. We see this when we look at their technology investments. In a 2017 paper, Aberdeen Group points to three technology trends driving digital transformation for manufacturers: the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced analytics and cloud-based capabilities. All three promote greater operational flexibility and efficiency. Equally importantly, they all promote better visibility of operations enabling manufacturers to achieve insights that they can translate into smart decisions and action. IoT-based smart devices are opening new windows of visibility into manufacturing processes Because of this visibility, according to Aberdeen Group, manufacturers are using IoT devices to make more accurate, real- time decisions. The best in class are almost four times more likely to detect the unexpected, making them much more able to respond quickly and effectively to unforeseen events and their consequences. Once IoT technologies such as sensors and actuators are embedded into your products or production equipment, you need to be able to handle the flow of data: to capture and store it, analyse it and act on it. This fundamentally depends on the capabilities of your core business systems. What is IoT? Internet of Things is a term used for the growing worldwide network of ordinary physical objects that now contain embedded technology designed to: • Sense their internal states or aspects of the external environment • Transmit the data collected • Receive and act on data from other connected devices This direct integration of the physical and digital worlds enables manufacturers to streamline, simplify and improve their operations and customer service. They can automate many actions that used to be manual because the devices collecting data can now initiate specific processes when pre- determined conditions appear. n Download whitepapers free from www.intelligentcio.com/me/whitepapers/ www.intelligentcio.com INTELLIGENTCIO 23